Gone Hunting
by scarlet letters in the snow
Summary: It bothered her that she didn't know much about the world around her, but what bothered her more was that the people she knew were content to never learn anything more. This is the tale of a daring young girl who sets out to gain knowledge, and winds up with more than she could ever ask for!


_-Gone Hunting-_

It bothered her that she didn't know much about the world around her, but what bothered her more was that the people she knew were content to never learn anything more.

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**So I came up with this little story while playing the game and talking to the guildie in Moga village.**

**I hope you enjoy this, whoever reads this. **

**I hope to make this long but I'm infamous for getting distracted. Keep me on the path by reviewing?**

**I'll get started now!**

**First and last disclaimer: I don't own _anything_ except for the story line. Capcom own MH.**

**Big thanks to my Beta, SeraphOmega, who helped me fix my mistakes!**

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-Port Brizo-

Kikita looked around with bright eyes. Bustling streets, strange outfits, the smell of exotic food, she was in the right place! She clutched her scrolls to her chest tightly, jostling around between the many people crowding the street. She lifted her eyes and watched as a pair of huge iron gates slowly opened, and she was caught up in the current of people as they swarmed through, bruising her fragile body and messing her hair. With a grumble she righted herself and straightened her blue beret. As a girl born out in the country she wasn't used to such rudeness, and she was starting to feel quite aggravated.

Kikita found herself behind the back of a very large man with a strange (and very snug) green leather-looking armor. Cautiously she reached out and grabbed his belt, keeping ahold of him and using him as a human shield. She glanced around in wonder at all the signs and banners, her eyes drifting from each one anxiously. When would she find the guild? Maybe she should have asked the man by the large bulletin board before she entered the gate. It had said 'Guide Service' but she had thought that she could navigate the city on her own. Only now did she realize how foolish that had been.

By a stroke of sheer good luck, the man she was holding onto happened to be going to the exact place she needed to be. She released his belt and glanced around, eyes flitting here and there. Across the counter there stood two girls, both dressed in the exact outfit as she wore. One stood to the left in front of a large gong, her red and blue outfit swaying with the passing wind (A strange net-covered white hammer resting beside her), and the one on the right (who wore red),was leaning forward with her elbows on the far side of the counter. She smiled over at them and they returned it in kind.

"You must be the new quest clerk," The one on the right said while extending her hand out for Kikita to shake. "I'm the arena clerk, Genessa! What's your name?"

"My name is Kikita." She quietly managed, smiling shyly at her new acquaintance.

She looked over at the other girl who nodded in her direction, her large hammer slung unceremoniously over her shoulder. "You've got a customer." She smirked as she spoke, lifting the heavy weapon up and setting it on the ground.

Kikita turned and bowed. "I'm so sorry sir," She apologized while flipping open her thick leather book. "How can I help you today?" With nervous hands she slid the quest log forward that she had been given when she passed the exam.

She watched as he flipped through the pages, and for a while after as he stood in contemplation. She knew it must not be easy to chose which monster to hunt, make the wrong choice and it could be your last. That still didn't make it any less annoying that after ten minutes of searching he had not come up with a decision.

"Can you help me make a decision?" The large man said, tugging on his ill fitting armor. "I'm new to hunting and I'm not sure which one I should go for first."

Kikita looked up at him with questioning eyes, he was the hunter...wasn't he supposed to know about the monsters? She glanced around to Genessa but found that she was busy with her own customer, and the girl with the hammer was nowhere to be seen. She inwardly sighed, but nodded to him. With shaking hands she reached out for the book and turned it to the first page, her eyes scanning over the words it read.

"This first one is called 'Harvest Tour' what it says below is that a Felyne guide will show you around the area and direct you to choice spots of gathering. The monsters that you will most likely encounter are the insects Altaroth, and the deer-like monster Kelbi." She peered up at him and saw him nod to her. "How about this one for your first try?"

"Alright," He said, leaning over and taking a quest form from the counter.

Kikita watched as he filled out his name, Alex, and that he would like a party of three. She nodded to him as she stuck the paper to the bulletin with a tac, and the hammer guildie from before suddenly sat on the counter beside her.

"My names Aona," She smiled as she spoke, peering over Kikita's shoulder to the slip of paper she had just posted."Ah, that's my cue!" and with that she sprang up from the counter and grabbed her giant hammer with both hands, swinging it high above her head.

"KYAAA!" She shouted as she hefted it up and gave it a mighty swing. The hammer hit the gong with a huge blast of sound that made Kikita cover her ears in shock. "Attention hunters! A new quest has been posted! Three spots remain!"

Kikita stared as at least four or five more hunters rushed to the counter, all wearing the same armor as the hunter Alex..

* * *

Kikita sighed as she leaned against the counter top, drawing figures in the dirt that covered almost every surface. So far the day had been very uneventful. Not that there were no customers, that was far from true. Many hunters came and went, posting the simplest quest to some very difficult ones (As difficult as they described them when they came back to collect their reward that is).

Somehow this just wasn't what she had thought it would be. Where was all the action and adventure she was promised? Where was the rush that she had expected? So far the only rush she had experienced was her dire need to use the restroom, but she was too nervous to ask where it was located.

After two more hours and three more quests posted she finally gave in and asked about the restroom. Genessa frowned, but slapped her arm playfully.

"You should've asked earlier! Dummy!" She chided, grabbing Kikita's hand after shouting for Aona to watch the counter.

Behind the Guild's cedar counter and beyond the large golden gong there was a bamboo building outfitted with dark red curtains for doors. Genessa pulled her through the curtain and past a few strange looking barrels, her grip slackening as she took her through an enormous surplus of items. They seemed strange; some were vials that were labeled 'Wyvern tears', others were labeled 'Auristone chunk', there were even some weird dark red crystals the color of blood sticking out of wooden crates. When Kikita asked her what those things were Genessa simply smiled.

"They're just items the guild tells us to take out, we don't really know any more than that." She waved her hand dismissively,"We are just told to make sure we go through the hunters' things and retrieve these items..but of course we pay them in return. It's a pretty fair trade!"

Kikita frowned at this information, walking behind her in a state of confusion. She ignored the rest of Genessa's rambling and walked into the stall, eyeing the chamber pot warily. "At least its only the three of us using it..and not some dirty hunters." She whispered to herself.

As she went about her business she tried to fit some pieces of this bizarre puzzle together. How come no one knew anything about the items they recovered, or even describe how the monsters are that they send hunters out to fight? Why didn't the Guild give the clerks more information about their work? Did the guild even know anything? Kikita found it highly unlikely that they knew nothing, or else why would they request items be kept over from a hunters quest? Those items must be very valuable or very useful to the guild for its own purposes.

"Are you done yet Kikita?" Genessa called from outside, "I need to go too."

Kikita blushed, wondering how long she had been in the restroom.

"Yes I'm finished." She called, opening the curtain and bowing her head apologetically.

"You can go on without me if you remember the way back." Genessa said, smiling before she disappeared behind the curtain.

Kikita wound her way through the maze of items slowly, absorbing the names of objects as labeled on their individual crates and boxes. She wanted to write them down and make sure she remembered everything. She didn't like not knowing what it was she was doing, and as the night wore on she decided that she didn't really want to be a guildie if she had no idea to the purpose of her job.

* * *

When the last hunter was dragged into the gates, Kikita and Genessa were sent to shut down and lock up. Kikita watched as Genessa wound the large chain a few times around the gate before slipping a large lock through the links.

"All done for the night!" Her new friend called out. "Have you been shown your sleeping quarters?"

"No, I haven't." Kikita answered quietly, stifling a yawn with one of her hands.

She blinked a few times before realizing that Genessa had started to walk away, and clutching her scrolls to her chest she rushed after her. "Wait up!" She called out, reaching forward and grabbing Genessa's shoulder. The elder girl laughed and began to talk about idle things, and Kikita found herself staring at all the shops lining the street.

It was amazing how different the city was at night, what with all the lanterns and music playing. In a near by stand she watched as strangely outfitted hunters lifted up their over-filled mugs and sang a drunken tune merrily, and in another an elderly woman began to close up shop for the night. In the distance she could hear someone shouting out about 'Very good deals' and 'Everything a hunter could ever need'.

"Before we go to our rooms," Genessa started with the faint hint of a blush,"I want to stop and say hello to my friend..okay?"

"Alright." Kikita nodded and smiled warmly, after all this gave her a chance to see more of this wonderous city.

As they rounded the corner and stepped down a tunnel of stairs she had to breathe through her nose to ignore the smell of smoke and the sharp bite of metal in the air. When they stepped off the final step Kikita looked around in amazement, down below the city there was a chamber with highly arched ceilings and dimly lit sconces. The pang of hammer on metal resounded through the domed walls, and across the wide room was a counter just like the one she stood behind today. But behind this counter were cats with matted fir and strange small beings(She couldn't tell if they were male or female). A large pot of boiling hot metal tipped over to fill the cast of some weapon part, and the sound of meowing and purring was barely heard over the sound of their tiny hammers.

Genessa nudged Kikita and whispered to her, "This is the smithy, and those little people are called wyvernians. They're all a very fiesty set of men down here."

Kikita nodded and took a mental note, they were indeed male.

When they got closer she could actually see that they all had a kind of yellowish tint to their skin, and little tufts of white growing from their chins, and some even had full heads of hair. Their faces were wrinkled and creased with soot and grime, but still the wyvernian man at the counter gave them a smile as they approached. Kikita couldn't take her eyes off of the weapons displayed, or the molten hot metal that they poured and beat with their tools. Because she was so inthralled with the happenings behind the counter, she had failed to notice that Genessa was introducing her to her friend.

"Helloooooo, Kikita?" Genessa said while waving her hand in front of the dazed girls' face.

"Oh sorry!" She apologized, turning towards her and noticing for the first time that another man stood at the far end of the counter. She blushed and bowed to him respectively.

He nodded at her and gave her a smile, and Genessa hopped up onto the counter.

"Kikita this is Pierre, Pierre this is Kikita." Genessa blushed and added,"Pierre is a very special friend of mine."

"Hello." He said with a quiet, but very deep voice.

Kikita nodded and looked at him. He was a nice looking young man from what she could tell. His face was dirty from sweat and grime, but his teeth were pearly white. She couldn't see his hair for the white bandana that covered the top of his head, but she could see under his blue shirt and apron that his arms were quite toned. She blinked a few times before realizing she had been staring, but neither of the other two had noticed. They were too busy talking quietly amongst each other.

Feeling slightly self conscious and out of the loop, she turned to the side and began to walk toward the counter in front of the blacksmith. She flipped open a book that depicted strange weapons, and marveled at the sight of it all. Some weapons were very large like a great sword which could be about as big as herself(and very wide), while long swords were almost twice her length(and very slender).

She was so busy looking that she hadn't noticed the wyvernian blacksmith laughing quietly before her. "Is this your first time seeing weapons?" He asked, and she noted that he spoke with a tone of someone who was very old and wise.

"Y-yes sir." She answered, sliding the book back toward him in embarrassment.

"No no.. keep looking please," He said kindly,"I'm glad to see such enthusiasm..but you're a guildie, are you interested in hunting?"

She knew he could see the fire in her eyes before she ever answered, but his jolly laughter made her heart feel light. This man didn't seem to be as mean as Genessa had described.

"I'm not sure about that, but I definitely want to know more about monsters..and hunters." She looked straight into his eyes as she spoke, and she could tell he knew the way she felt.

"You're very curious about the world,"He said with a whimsical tone,"You remind me of how I used to be when I was young."

Kikita blushed and bowed to him, and before she knew it they were talking up a storm. So it was that she introduced herself to him and he to her, his name was Gordon and he was almost one hundred and thirty-two years old. When he was a young man he had tried his hand at hunting, but had only been mediocre at best. But that was when he had discovered his love for weapons, and he began to study under a blacksmith. It took fifty years for him to become his own self employed boss, but he manage to start his own practice. He told Kikita that if she ever wanted to learn more about weapons then she only needed to ask.

She bowed to him and waved goodbye whenever Genessa came over and told her it was time to go home, and when she left she felt like she had actually made her first true friend.

* * *

When they emerged out of the dank tunnel Kikita took in a big whiff of fresh air, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. She made idle talk with Genessa about what she thought of Pierre, but she didn't bring up how much she enjoyed Gordon's company.

As they walked Kikita looked up at the night sky, so many whirls of color among the stars even though they were in a crowded city. It was amazing how clear the sky was, and it made her miss her home.

They walked up two flights of stairs and made their way through what Genessa described as 'up town', it was where all the elite hunters made their home. Before them was a gated community of houses with ivory horn pillars and dark wooden shutters. They turned right, away from the gate and continued to walk until they had almost circled around the gated community, before they came to a stop in front of a strange topsy-turvy house. It was made of stone with a small yellow canopy that covered the entrance, and Kikita followed Genessa to the door. She knocked twice before a small peep hole slat opened, revealing a beady green eye surrounded by hair.

Kikita blinked in surprise as a Felyne opened the door to greet them.

"Nyaa! Hello there! meow are you?"

She smiled at the fuzzy cat-like creature and said that she was "Just fine thank you!" As they entered the home.

Immediately she looked around in awe. Light blue curtains adorned the open windows, and a gentle breeze blew them up onto the navy blue couch. She smiled at the coziness of the room. The tan walls made it feel warm, and the cluttered guild memorabilia adorned almost every surface. A fire burned in the hearth although it was barely cold enough to wear a jacket.

As they made their way up to the rooms Genessa apologized for ignoring her at the smithy.

"It's alright," Kikita said with a shrug," I made myself busy anyway."

When they reached the top of the stairs Genessa pointed her to the end of the hall.

"Your room is the last room on the right, and mine and Aona's is right here," She gestured at the two doors that faced each other before them. "The door at the end on the left leads to the roof, we have a table up there and a few plants..but I'll show you tomorrow."

They waved goodnight before separating to their own rooms, and Kikita stood for a minute in front of her door before going in. When she finally got the courage to grab the doorknob she was astonished. Her room wasn't too large, but it was very big compared to the one she had back home. She rushed to the bed where her bags lay completely intact. She smiled at that because she had been so afraid that the man from the guild(who was in charge of making sure she got to the city) wouldn't actually deliver it to the right place. She hefted it up and off of the bed, but decided not to go through it tonight. She was far too tired. With a heavy sigh she plopped back onto her bed and looked around.

The walls were a deep soothing blue, which perfectly matched her guildie uniform. She immediately wondered if perhaps Genessa's and Aona's rooms were matched to their own guild uniforms. She laughed as she snuggled into her pillow, her eyes darting around the room to the yellow chest in the corner, the table against the left hand wall, the flowers on her dresser by the door. She wondered if Genessa had put them there? Or maybe the guild had sent them..she didn't know. As her eyes wandered up to the ceiling her lids began to get too heavy, and before she could slip under the sheets she was sound asleep.

Dreaming of strange armors...and even stranger weapons.

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**So this is it. Tell me what you thought.:)**


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